Nepal Floods Damage Hydropower Plants And Cut Power Capacity

According to the BBC, deadly floods in Nepal last Wednesday severely damaged 12 hydropower plants in the Trishuli River basin and knocked out more than 10% of the country's total power generation capacity. Operators said they do not yet know whether any of the facilities can be restored, while the state-owned Nepal Electricity Authority said supply remains adequate for households. The floods destroyed entire villages near the border with Tibet and killed more than 1,300 people, with thousands still missing. Nepal relies on hydropower for almost all of its electricity and earns nearly $200m a year exporting power to India and Bangladesh, but officials and energy experts said the disaster highlights the need to rethink the country's hydropower strategy and diversify into other sources such as solar and wind. The Upper Trishuli-1 project, one of Nepal's largest foreign direct investment ventures at about $647m, was among the worst hit, and insurers have paid around $40m for flood-related damage to more than 20 privately owned plants over the past three years.